NYIT's New York College of Osteopathic Medicine welcomed its incoming classes of 2005 and 2006 recently at its annual White Coat Ceremony, which stresses the humanistic element of the medical profession.
The ceremony marked NYIT's NYCOM'S launch of its 25th Anniversary year and the first time the new dean Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee presided over an event at the school. She is the first Black woman to head a medical school in the United States. She is also the older sister of entertainer Diana Ross, also a titan in her chosen field.
Dr. Ross-Lee told the assembled students--260 from the traditional four-year program and 40 from the accelerated three-year program for international medical professionals--that they should see the white coat as a symbol of the "commitment, hard work, dedication and focus" NYCOM, and the profession of osteopathic medicine, will require of them.
"Before you learn to practice medicine," Dr. Ross-Lee said, "you will have changed the public impression of what you can do."
The ceremony took place at the Huntington Hilton Hotel in Melville, NY in front of picture-snapping family and friends, who represented the "emotional support and value system closest to the students," said Dr. Edward Guiliano, president of New York Institute of Technology, of which NYCOM is one of eight academic schools.
One by one the students stepped up to the stage to don the traditional doctor's white coat. They then took an Oath of Commitment in which they pledged to respect their colleagues, teachers and, eventually, patients. A cocktail reception followed the ceremony.
The students were also given a copy of "On Doctoring," a collection of stories, poems and essays related to medicine, and a pin provided by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, a 14-year-old non-profit organization that created the White Coat Ceremony to promote its ideals of compassion and professional rigor in the field of osteopathic medicine.
Osteopathic medicine combines the rigor of established medical practices with the knowledge that the mind and body are intimately connected. A doctor's ability to see the patient "in whole"--taking into account mental and emotional as well as physical health--is crucial to the patient's well being.
This is just one ways that osteopathic medicine distinguishes itself from allopathic medicine, according to keynote speaker Dr. Norman Gevitz, chair of the Department of Social Medicine at the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, told the crowd.
Now that osteopathic medicine has standing on a par with allopathic medicine, Dr. Gevitz said, the next generation of osteopathic practitioners needs to promote the distinctiveness of the field.
Calling osteopathic medicine "the best-kept secret in American healthcare," Dr. Gevitz told the students that their challenge would be to bring the field squarely into the mainstream of medicine while emphasizing the special qualities that osteopathic medicine has to offer to patients.
"There is nothing wrong with being a little deviant," he said, "if that deviance can be demonstrated to be in the best interest of the patients you serve."
Aside from Dr. Ross-Lee and Dr. Gevitz, also on hand to welcome the students were Dr. Mark Schecter, president of NYCOM's alumni association, Dr. David Broder, Associate Dean of Postdoctoral Education, Dr. Arnold Nagler, Senior Associate Dean of Preclinical Medical Education, and Joseph Ford, Associate Dean for Student Affairs.
Dr. Martin Diamond, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, presided over the Oath of Commitment.
NYCOM is the second largest medical school in the United States and the largest one in New York State. It is also the only school of osteopathic medicine in the state. The school is a part of the New York Institute of Technology, an independent, comprehensive college that offers, through eight schools, more than 100 courses of study leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. NYIT currently educates more than 10,000 students on three physical campuses-in Old Westbury and Central Islip, Long Island, and Manhattan, near Lincoln Center-and one virtual campus via the Internet. More than 59,000 alumni have received degrees from NYIT.
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